Signal processing circuits are frequently used to read storage media and interpret obtained analog signals as discrete values stored on the media. For magnetic storage media, a transducer head may fly on a cushion of air over a magnetic disk surface. The transducer converts magnetic field variations into an analog electrical signal. The analog signal is amplified, converted to a digital signal and interpreted (e.g., using maximum likelihood techniques, such as using a Viterbi detector). Tracking of stored data during a read operation is frequently performed using feedback or decision aided gain and timing control.
The head-media combination in typical magnetic recording systems has associated transfer characteristics that include an asymmetrical signal amplitude response, where an input signal having equivalent amplitudes on the positive and negative sides of the waveform results in an output signal having different amplitudes on the positive and negative sides of the waveform. Such amplitude asymmetry has been compensated for by adding to a readback signal an asymmetry adjustment signal, which is the readback signal squared and then scaled by a controlled asymmetry factor. The controlled asymmetry factor has previously been based on a comparison of the positive peak value with the negative peak value in the readback signal, which thus minimizes amplitude error at the peak values.